Vivian and I have
been enjoying what for us has been a rare treat in the past several years. We have been
in Wisconsin to welcome the
early spring. Our time here has again reminded me of one of the great life
lessons from living in this particular corner of the world. It is a lesson that
must have, as a prerequisite, a cold and dark winter, for it is out of this
darkness that the message emerges.
The winters in Wisconsin are ones in which
nature is in a deep dormancy. We might even say that it is a winter in which all
has appeared to have died. A walk through the woods in the winter is one of
stillness. There are very few signs of active life. Of course winter has its
own unique beauties, but the point that I wish to make here is that there is
more about winter that speaks of death than there is that speaks of life. The
trees are not growing, and many have even dropped whatever green signs of life
that they once had. There are no new little plants emerging from the forest
floor. Even many of the animals have entered into hibernation, which one could
call a semi-death.
But then spring
arrives! The trees, which once looked completely dead, begin to show a swelling
on the tips of their branches as they begin to pump life back into their
nascent leaf buds. The bears and other animals that once appeared to be lying
dead in their dens, gradually begin to stir and rouse themselves. Then soon,
everywhere you look you see life. New little plants are emerging out of what
was lifeless soil, many of them so eager to grow that they do not even wait for
the snow to be completely melted. All that was dead has again come to life!
Those of us who are
from Wisconsin understand the difficulties of living in an area that has such a
deep winter, but sometimes I think that there are relatively few of us who
have appreciated the great lesson that comes from watching life spring out of
death. Certainly we are all glad to see spring arrive. No longer do we have to
bundle ourselves with many layers of clothing and plow our way through the snow
to get out of our driveways. No longer do we continually have to throw wood
into our furnaces or pay the heating oil man. Warm weather has arrived and we
are excited to enjoy the fine summer months.
But we must not be
so wrapped up in our playing in the sun that we miss the great lesson that we
have just experienced. Life has emerged from death. It is one of the great themes
of the Bible. If we would take time to notice, nature itself, as God’s
creation, also gives us a lesson on this subject.
“Unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears
much fruit.” This is how Jesus explained to His disciples concerning the lesson
of life coming from death (John 12:24). He was preparing
them for His own death, which, without this lesson, would have appeared to be a
defeat. However, understanding this principle of life emerging from death
teaches us that death may instead be the means to abundant life.
All life is ultimately
connected with Jesus. He also said, “He who hears My word and believes in Him
who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed
out of death into life” (John 5:24).
Notice that Jesus
did not say that this eternal life is something that will happen some day in
the future when our physical bodies die, but if our confidence and hope of
living is in Him, we have already
passed out of death and into life. As Jesus had said, His death has brought
about much fruit.
Although there are
many more aspects to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles concerning life
that emerges from death, the very first lesson is found in these words of
Jesus: “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.